WORLD WAR WARNER BROS.!
People like Netflix. But they can’t have this (and neither can Paramount)
As I prepped to publish this morning, railing about why the Netflix victory in the derby for Warner Bros. is a bridge too far for the mighty streamer (read all that below), the news broke that the battle isn’t quite over.
David Ellison, having rigged this contest fair and square for Paramount, isn’t ready to shrug his shoulders and walk away; Paramount is now launching a hostile bid for the studio.
The rationale for Ellison’s unhappiness isn’t quite clear. When you read through the breathless accounts of How Netflix Won! — when you get past the secret White House visits and code words — it comes down to something simple: Netflix paid more.
More to the point, Netflix was willing to pay more for half the company (the studio assets and HBO Max) than Ellison and his father, Larry, were willing to pay for the whole thing. That seems like a pretty convincing position.
The Ellisons, if you believe the reporting, seemed to have assumed that they would get a discount because they were the only ones who had greased the corrupt government well enough to get this through (something that will go down as one of the more staggering miscalculations on every level in Hollywood business history).
Even worse, having rigged the contest fair and square, it appears that their mark refuses to stay bought, and King Donald is having an orange tantrum at them about last night’s 60 Minutes interview with Marjorie Taylor Greene:
That would seem to put a stake through the rationale for the Paramount bid right there — unless they want to win the way companies typically win an auction: by being the highest bidder.
So while the battle rages on, Netflix seems to be the default winner for the moment, until proven otherwise.
Which brings us to the unhappy point that, as satisfying as this comeuppance is, as wonderful as it is to see those who make nice with Trump and enable his monstrosities in the interests of getting something for themselves, are always made to regret it — despite that, there are no good guys in this fight.
Every outcome that involves Warner Bros. being folded into another studio is horrible.
Which brings us to Netflix…